Category Archives: Review and Approval

Frame.io, which makes a video review and collaboration platform, has introduced 10 new features that will improve how media professionals collaborate on video, from initial upload to final delivery. Top user-requested features now available in Frame.io include a new reel player presentation format, @mentions and support for multi-page PDFs.

Here are some details:
– Multi-page PDFs: Users can now collaborate on scripts and storyboards just like on video. Entire video projects from the initial brief to the final deliverable, can now live in Frame.io.
– Enhanced version management: Users now have more control over how they manage versions. They can reorder or remove versions in one place.
– Private comments: For teams who routinely create a separate review link for internal teams to gather feedback they don’t want clients to see. Internal team conversations can be separated from client conversations, all within the same project.
– @mentions: Users can tag anyone on a project to quickly grab their attention when it’s needed most. Anytime someone is @mentioned, they’ll receive a notification creating streamlined communication.
– Reel player: Drop all assets into a filmstrip format for easy viewing, complete with built-in autoplay
– Archival storage (beta): Users can now free up more account storage by archiving projects. Original files will be archived but low-res preview files stay online and searchable. Users can still comment, compare and share Frame.io archived projects. Originals can be restored within a few hours.
– Updated review pages (beta): Frame.io review pages now include a simpler interface that makes it easier for clients to leave feedback with no login required.
– Redesigned iPhone app: Frame.io’s iOS app has a design update. Users will see a cleaner, improved app interface.
– Short links: No more long and clunky URLs for clients and collaborators. New shareable URLs will use a f.io shortlink, making sharing them significantly more user-friendly.
– Account switching: For those users with multiple accounts, Frame.io now offers a simple way to navigate between them on Frame.io.

Autodesk Shotgun 8 is the newest version of the company’s cloud-based review and production tracking software. Targeted to busy creative teams, Shotgun 8 aims to improve the artist and reviewer experience with updates that reduce interruptions to creative flow and facilitate the feedback loop.

Shotgun 8 includes the first public version of Shotgun Create, a new part of Shotgun geared specifically toward creatives working at studios. As a cloud-connected desktop experience, Shotgun Create makes it easier for artists and reviewers to see tasks demanding their attention while providing a collaborative environment to review media and exchange feedback. Linked to the same updated information stored in Shotgun, artists are able to work with high-resolution, locally stored shots in addition to media streamed from the cloud. Also included in this first version of Shotgun Create are built-in annotation tools, new prioritized task views, a centralized view of task history, and tighter integration with creative tools.

Shotgun 8 also has a new web interface for greater clarity and consistency. For individuals who work predominantly in a dark environment, this release also makes it easier to switch between light and dark themes with a new button in the header.

Shotgun 8 is currently available and priced at $30 per account/per month with support or $50 per account/per month with advanced support.

Frame.io, a workflow management platform for video, has rolled out the first of many new features to come in what the company is referring to as the all-new Frame.io. The new advanced Image Review tool brings all of the platform’s review and collaboration capabilities to more types of visual media, like photos, illustrations and graphic design.

The expansion of Frame.io’s toolset to support high-resolution images will enable professional video teams to collaborate on visual content and manage their video creative assets in one place.

Filmmakers will be able to collaborate on imagery from location scouts, castings, mood boards and other graphical assets; content marketers can now collaborate with their teams on video branding concepts and high-res imagery; and digital agencies can share creative campaigns with clients using safe and secure review tools on a variety of projects, from ad spots to Instagram Stories.

Image Review tool’s main features:
• Commenting and annotations
• High-resolution renders up to 8K
• Graphical assets for previewing graphical or animated elements as PNGs
• Zoom, pan, and loupe. Users can zoom by pinching, pan by dragging and magnify at 100% resolution with the new loupe tool
• Full-screen viewing
• Mini image map preview. If you are zoomed in and looking at a large image, the new mini image map will help find your current area of focus

Frame.io will be at NAB this year previewing its re-engineered workflow management tool, which will have a full release early this summer. This next generation of the company’s media review and collaboration software, the new Frame.io was redesigned with speed in mind.

“When we first launched Frame.io, it was greenfield territory,” explains CEO Emery Wells. “We were able to launch a ton of features very quickly. Last year we assessed that our core infrastructure needed to be rebuilt if we wanted to execute on our very aggressive roadmap. Over the past year, we have been feverishly rebuilding almost the entire application from the ground up. I’d say it’s analogous to replacing railroad tracks right from underneath a speeding train without any the passengers feeling a thing. That work has been going on for about a year, and now Frame.io is sitting on a brand new, very solid and very secure infrastructure. Now with the right foundation, we’ve been able to work much more quickly and get back to the fast and furious shipping cadence of the first two years. The all new Frame.io is just a sneak peek of much much more to come.”

The new offering will be up 100x faster with a new media browser that enables users to search through thousands of assets quickly. New sorting and search options make it easier for users to find exactly what they need in less time. The new uploader can support speeds above 1GB and retains full nested folder structures during upload.

There will also be a revamped core video playback and media experiences for video, audio, images, multi-page PDFs and animated GIFs. The rebuilt core video playback engine means faster/smoother playback with less buffering, at up to 4K resolution.

Range-based comments will unlock a whole new level of communication. Users can drag the comment handle over the timeline to create a range and better reference the underlying content. Users can also see who’s currently watching (live) and who’s already watched with clip history. Clip statistics show you play count, historical views, and even let you set up a notification when a specific person or group of people start viewing.

All in all, Frame.io is adding over 150 additional features and improvements:
• All new apps and integrations for enhanced workflows
• Improved playback performance with HLS and DASH streaming
• Visual watermarking
• Media lifecycle management
• Dozens of security features in support of a commitment to offer the most secure platform available for video review

Last month, Frame.io shipped a completely redesigned player experience that laid the foundation for the new Frame.io and many more features to come. The new player page supports 360-degree VR content with spatial annotations so users can highlight a specific target within the frame. With a design and improved performance on mobile browsers, the player page allows users to an easily add descriptions to files, clearly see what date and version they are working on and collaborate even more quickly with their teams and clients.

Shotgun Software has released Shotgun 7.6, the latest version of its cloud-based review and production tracking software, featuring a new set of analytics and reporting tools that give studios the ability to visualize key production information, keep a close eye on the progress of their projects and make business-critical decisions quickly.

The new normal is shorter turnaround, tighter budgets and growing creative demands, so studios need to be efficient, identify business issues quickly and adjust where and how resources are being used during production. Production Insights in Shotgun provides studios with an overview of the health of projects as well as the ability to dive into the details to see where time and resources are used, so operations can be streamlined and better decisions can be made.

“Our new Production Insights features help Shotgun customers answer urgent and costly production questions such as: Are we going to hit our deadline? How much work is there left to do? Where are we struggling?” explains James Pycock, head of product management for Shotgun. “Having access to these tools out of the box gives everyone instant at-a-glance visualizations of how and where they are spending time and resources.”

Shotgun Production Insights include:

– Analytics: The ability to apply production data in Shotgun to optimize how resources are used, plan ahead for tight deadlines and budgets, and accurately compile bids for upcoming projects.
– Data Visualization: In addition to the existing horizontal bar chart in Shotgun, there are now new graph types, including pie charts, vertical bar charts and line charts.
– Data Grouping: Display data is now available as stacked (see picture) or un-stacked bar charts to visualize in even greater at-a-glance detail.
– Presets: Users can drag and drop from a number of pre-configured presets to build reports instantly, with flexible customization options.

Shotgun pricing starts at $30 per account/per month with what they call “Awesome” support, or $50 per account/per month for “Super Awesome” support. They are offering free trials here.

Frame.io, makers of video review and collaboration platforms for content creators, has just launched Frame.io Enterprise, providing large organizations — such as media corporations, ad agencies, brands and institutions of all sizes — with a solution that features team management, enterprise-grade security and enhanced support, among other things. Frame.io Enterprise is already being used by Vice, Turner Broadcasting Systems, BuzzFeed and DJI.

“One of the key challenges that larger organizations face when deploying collaboration software is the ability to manage everything from one central account while still allowing each brand, division or production to have their own private work space,” says co-founder/CEO of Frame.io Emery Wells.

Frame.io Enterprise allows large organizations to get visibility into the work happening across the entire company while individual teams can stay focused on their projects. Administrators can organize teams based on their company’s needs and structure, manage member and resource allocation and control team access and visibility.

Frame.io Enterprise helps organizations fulfill their compliance requirements with industry-leading security protocols. In addition to team-level privacy, Frame.io Enterprise supports Single Sign-On with Okta and SAML 2.0, high-security workstations, bank-level encryption and more. While users can access their Frame.io projects from any given device, if a device is ever lost or stolen, an admin can quickly disable active sessions, protecting against a potential security breach that would otherwise jeopardize confidential, proprietary information.

Frame.io, developers of the video review and collaboration platform for content creators, has unveiled Frame.io 2.0 , an upgrade offering over 100 new features and improvements. This new version features new client Review Pages, which expands content review and sharing. In addition, the new release offers deeper workflow integration with Final Cut Pro X and Avid Media Composer, plus a completely re-engineered player.

“Frame.io 2 is based on everything we’ve learned from our customers over the past two years and includes our most-requested features,” says Emery Wells, CEO of Frame.io.

Just as internal teams can collaborate using Frame.io’s comprehensive annotation and feedback tools, clients can now provide detailed feedback on projects with Review Pages, which is designed to make the sharing experience simple, with no log-in required.

Review Pages give clients the same commenting ability as collaborators, without exposing them to the full Frame.io interface. Settings are highly configurable to meet specific customer needs, including workflow controls (approvals), security (password protection, setting expiration date) and communication (including a personalized message for the client).

The Review Pages workflow simplifies the exchange of ideas, consolidating feedback in a succinct manner. For those using Adobe Premiere or After Effects, those thoughts flow directly into the timeline, where you can immediately take action and upload a new version. Client Review Pages are also now available in the Frame.io iOS app, allowing collaboration via iPhones and iPads.

Exporting and importing comments and annotations into Final Cut Pro X and Media Composer has gotten easier with the upgraded, free desktop companion app, which allows users to open downloaded comment files and bring them into the editor as markers. There is now no need to toggle between Frame.io and the NLE.

Users can also now copy and paste comments from one version to another. The information is exportable in a variety of formats, whether that’s a PDF containing a thumbnail, timecode, comment, annotation and completion status that can be shared and reviewed with the team or as a .csv or .xml file containing tons of additional data for further processing.

Also new to Frame.io 2.0 is a SMPTE-compliant source timecode display that works with both non-drop and drop-frame timecode. Users can now download proxies straight from Frame.io.

The Frame.io 2.0 player page now offers better navigation, efficiency and accountability. New “comment heads” allow artists to visually see who left a comment and where so they can quickly find and prioritize feedback on any given project. Users can also preview the next comment, saving them time when one comment affects another.

The new looping feature, targeting motion and VFX artists, lets users watch the same short clip on loop. You can even select a range within a clip to really dive in deep. Frame.io 2.0’s asset slider makes it easy to navigate between assets from the player page.

The new Frame.io 2.0 dashboard has been redesigned for speed and simplicity. Users can manage collaborators for any given project from the new collaborator panel, where adding an entire team to a project takes one click. A simple search in the project search bar makes it easy to bring up a project. The breadcrumb navigation bar tracks every move deeper into a sub-sub-subfolder, helping artists stay oriented when getting lost in their work. The new list view option with mini-scrub gives users the birds-eye view of everything happening in Frame.io 2.0.

Copying and moving assets between projects takes up no additional storage, even when users make thousands of copies of a clip or project. Frame.io 2.0 also now offers the ability to publish direct to Vimeo, with full control over publishing options, so pros can create the description and set privacy permissions, right then and there.

Cospective has released the latest version of its remote review and approval solution — cineSync 4.0 introduces a new iOS app, an overhauled video playback system, deeper production tracking integrations with Shotgun and ftrack. Enhanced security features are being offered via its new cineSync Pro Studio product, including on-demand watermarking via a new integration with MediaSilo’s Safestream.

Shotgun viewer

cineSync 4.0 has been developed in conjunction with the security departments of several major studios. This has resulted in the creation of cineSync Pro Studio, in addition to cineSync and cineSync Pro. cineSync Pro Studio’s integration with MediaSilo’s SafeStream watermarking technology allows for automated, on-demand, individual watermarking of all review files. All guests in the review will receive customizable files watermarked with their name, cineSync session key, IP address and the review time/date. The process is fast and efficient, due to Safestream’s scalable architecture.

For additional review security, guests are authenticated in advance — only guests who have been approved will have review access. This allows maximum control over who has access to review material, while imposing as few technical hurdles as possible. All reviews are also tracked in the management portal, allowing admins to see when reviews occurred and who was involved.

“We worked closely with the world’s biggest production studios on cineSync Pro Studio. Security was a key concern,” explains Cospective CEO Rory McGregor. “In working in close collaboration with MediaSilo and their SafeStream technology, we’ve met these concerns and more, delivering a tool that’s not only better positioned to deliver efficient, streamlined reviews, but also to do so in with the highest possible level of security and in a completely dependable environment.”

iPhone playlist interface

Also new from Cospective is a cineSync app for iOS. It allows guests to join cineSync reviews from mobile devices. The app integrates seamlessly with Shotgun and ftrack, meaning review information and media can be pushed securely to mobile devices. Files are automatically deleted at the end of the review, but all drawings and saved frames can be saved back to Shotgun or ftrack by the session host.

Let’s dig into some cineSync 4.0, which is what the company is calling an overhaul of its video playback system. QuickTime has been retired and replaced by a new, adaptable video architecture. This means that cineSync 4.0 can support a wide array of video formats, resolutions, and frame-rates across all platforms.

cineSync 4.0 features a deeper integration with production tracking tools Shotgun, ftrack and NIM. Users can browse and load media playlists directly from these applications, and access seamless transfer and recording of review information, saved frames and other feedback. cineSync 4.0 is available now.

Cospective will continue to roll out new features for cineSync (which won an Oscar by the way), cineSync Pro and cineSync Pro Studio over the coming months. Users with a valid subscription to an existing cineSync package, will be eligible to upgrade to the latest version.

The price will increase depending on the amount of features that tool includes. All cineSync products have security measures, but Pro Studio is especially thorough as the only tool with watermarking and guest authentication.

Here are the baseline costs for each product: cineSync, 12 months for 10 users is $1,599; cineSync Pro, 12 months for 10 users is $4,999; and cineSync Pro Studio, 12 months for 10 users is $8,000

Cloud-based review and approval tool Wipster, which lets you upload your latest edit, share it with clients and colleagues and have frame-accurate conversations directly on the video, now offers integration with Slack, allowing for realtime team messaging.

Wipster CEO/founder Rollo Wenlock says, “Now you can get your Wipster notifications directly in your team Slack channel, making it super-easy for the whole team to instantly see where a review is at.”

I reached out to Wenlock to find out more about Wipster, the Slack integration and what it means for users.

How old is Wipster now, and can you describe how it works?
Wipster was born in 2013. Wipster is a content review and approval platform for creative teams and their stakeholders to rapidly iterate video projects by sharing work-in-progress for realtime pin-point comments right on the content. Teams speed up their production by up to 60 percent and get closer creative collaboration with their workmates, thus enhancing the work. We like to say that Wipster is the “Google Docs of video.”

How has the tool evolved over the years?
In the beginning we were very focused on creating a very specific user experience to prove people wanted to share work-in-progress and talk all over it. Wipster only worked for single users, only certain types of video could be uploaded, and at the very start, when comments were made, you had no way of knowing who made them!

Now Wipster works for multiple integrated teams, comments are realtime, with replies, added imagery and social “likes.” All commentary becomes automatic to-do lists, and you can have the whole Wipster experience right inside Adobe Creative Cloud.

What types of pros have been taking advantage of Wipster?
In the early days it was freelancers and small studios working for large agencies and brands. Now we have the large agencies and brands as customers as well. Companies like Red Bull, Delta Airlines and Intel. We have every type of creative team using Wipster every day to enhance their creative work.

There are many review and approval apps out there these days, what makes Wipster different? Is it suited to a particular workflow?
Since our launch there have been a number of other apps launch, some doing a great job, others not quite getting the user experience right. The reason why brands and studios are coming to Wipster is our relentless focus on making the review experience work seamlessly between the creative and the stakeholder.

Oftentimes, these people have never worked together before, and creating a very easy and memorable experience heightens their relationship. For our customers, Wipster is a new way of working, which takes them 100x beyond the process they had before, which usually involved a disconnected collection of social video apps and email.

Can you talk about your Slack integration? What does it offer users that they didn’t have before? How does it enhance the process?
We talk to our customers every day, multiple times a day — and they tell us about all the apps and workflows they already have, and what they would like them to do with Wipster — which is insanely helpful.

Our customers want to use Wipster as their “pre-publish” platform, and anything we can do to make their lives simpler and more enjoyable is top of our list. Thousands of our users are working in Slack every day, so it was a no-brainer that we create a Wipster activity channel for them to access right inside Slack.

When using Slack and Wipster together, you can access all your Wipster activity right inside a Slack channel in realtime. This means people in your team can see when videos have been uploaded and shared. You can see when teammates and clients have viewed work, and made comments. You can even see what frame of the video they commented on, with a green dot showing you where they had clicked. This workflow is just another way we are rapidly speeding up the process in which creatives and stakeholders can work together.

Frame.io is a cloud-based video collaboration tool that was designed to combine the varied ways pros review and approve projects — think Dropbox, Vimeo or email. Frame.io allows you to create projects and add collaborators and files to share in realtime.

They are now offering integration with Adobe’s After Effects that includes features like realtime comments and annotations that sync to your comp, the ability to import comments and annotations into your comp as live shape layers, and uploads of project files and bins.

To find out more, I reached out to Frame.io’s co-founder/CEO Emery Wells.

You just launched a panel for Adobe After Effects. Why was this the next product you guys targeted?
We launched our first Adobe integration with Premiere Pro this past NAB. It was a huge amount of work to rebuild all the Frame.io collaboration features for the Adobe Extension architecture, but it was worth the effort. The response from the Premiere integration was one of the best and biggest we received. After Effects is Premiere’s best friend. It’s the workhorse of the post industry. From complex motion graphics and visual effects to simple comps and title sequences, After Effects is one the key tools video pros rely on so we knew we had to extend all of the capabilities into AE.

Can you discuss the benefits users get from this panel?
Workflow is often one of the biggest frustrations any post pro faces. You really just want to focus on making cool stuff, but inevitably that requires wrangling renders, uploading files everywhere, collecting feedback and generally just doing a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do what you’re good at and what you enjoy. Frame.io for Adobe After Effects allows you to focus on the work you do well in the tool you use to do it. When you need to get feedback from someone, just upload your comp to Frame.io from within AE. Those people will immediately get a notification via email or their phone and they can start leaving feedback immediately. That feedback then flows right back into your comp where you’re doing the work.

We just cut out all the inefficient steps in between. What it really provides, more than anything else, is rapid iteration. The absolute best work only comes through that creative iteration. We never nail something on our first try. It’s the 10th try, the 50th try. Being able to try things quickly and get feedback quickly not only saves time and money, but will actually produce better work.

Will there be more Adobe collaboration offerings to come?
The way we built the panel for Premiere and After Effects actually uses the entire Frame.io web application codebase. It essentially just has a different skin on it so it feels native to Adobe apps. What that essentially means is all the updates we do to the core web application get inherited by Premiere and After Effects, so there will be many more features to come.

Not long ago Frame.io got a huge infusion of cash thanks to some heavy-hitter investors. How has this changed the way you guys work?
It’s allowing us to move faster and in parallel. We’ve now shipped four really unique products in about a year and half. The core web app, the Apple Design award-winning iOS app, the full experiences that live inside Premiere and AE, and our desktop companion app that integrated with Final Cut Pro X. All these products require considerable resources to maintain and push forward, so the capital infusion will allow us to continue building a complete ecosystem of apps that all work together to solve the most essential creative collaboration challenges.

What’s next for Frame.io?
The integrations are a really key part of our strategy, and you’ll see more of them moving forward. We want to embed Frame.io as deeply as we can in the creative apps so it just becomes a seamless part of your experience.